Northwestern Intersections

It's empowering to tell your story, but even more so to empower others to share their own. As a student in Performance Studies at Northwestern and throughout her time at Piven Theatre Workshop, Rebecca Kling ’07 gathered the tools of performance: movement, storytelling, adaption, audience, lighting. After graduation while in Tim Miller's paradigm shifting workshop at Link's Hall, "Charged Bodies", Kling understood how those tools could be applied internally: sharing her own personal narrative of transition and how she navigates the world as a trans-woman. She describes how at the time, she was the only trans-performer she knew of publicly speaking about her experiences; trans-folks were simply not visible the same way they are today with rise of social media and online communities. Through orchestrating talk-backs with the audience—opportunities for members to ask questions about trans-folks and their experiences—Kling realized the potential of performance to also serve as a tool to educate and advocate.  Kli